Oh hell yes. I have a new awesome-powered sex toy boutique of my own! It’s good stuff, at great prices, shipped by people you can trust. How could it get any better than that? And look at that cartoon of me. You will also look like that with these goodies between your thighs. I’m serious.

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Oh Portland, how I love you. Quirky, self deprecating, bicycling, zine making bundle of goodness! This spring I had one more reason to fall in love with you… She Bop!

This little sex shop is an awesome source of carefully selected sex toys, books and workshops. She Bop is a place where you can ask an honest question, be treated with respect, take a cute date to and find the things that make you spring! They are located down a little street, just off North Mississippi Avenue. Oh and no other shop I know has a section called BOOBS! I love them.

Last time I was there I found good beer on the corner, kitty cross from the store. And rumor has it that Reading Frenzy (one of my favorite shops in the whole world!) is just about to open the doors to their new location– just down the way from She Bop.

All this said, I am about 10 minutes away from moving there! But alas… I have a home. So I have to be content with just visiting and being content just knowing there is this beautiful pocket of good stuff in Portland.

Luckily I will be teaching there on October 9th and October 10th. I have a third presetantion, but it’s already sold out… so be sure to get them in advance so I can see your bright face!

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Last night I was lucky enough to be the very first workshop teacher at the new Pleasure Chest location in NYC. I knew it would be nice, but I was a gasp at how stunning the new store is in person.

Everything is curated and displayed with such care.

A huge, circular chandelier reflects off the glass cases that present a luscious collection of high end kink accouterments.

Lots of leather tethers of various kinds.

Beautiful lingerie and leather harnesses of every variety. (There may be parts of you that need to be harnessed?)

The largest selection of lube I have ever seen. (Including my favorite brand – Sliquid.)

The walls of toys go on and on… including a wide collection of Tantus. I love them!

They have the Aneros products for male and female bodies.

Never trust a sex shop that does not sell books. Here is there library of literature.

They have all the basic vibrators plus little boutique brands, like Seagrape… one of absolute favorite massage oils.

The store is vast. Perhaps six times the size of the flag ship West Village location. There are also lots of pubs and restaurants up the avenue. I highly suggest making this spot a date night destination.

The Pleasure Chest Upper East Side is located at 1150 2nd Ave, between 60th and 61st.

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The front window always has a clever display. Nothing too dirty, usually some brainy, sexy thing. (And for sex dorks like me, that’s divine!) The window display is tall, obscuring the view inside and giving shoppers a little extra privacy. Through the glass door and you walk in to one of the biggest and best sex book selections of any shop, any where. And an area plump with free pamphlets and community fliers for STI testing, queer health care, sex party adverts, and all sorts of Toronto community information.

Which make sense because this shop was built by a community of workers. Come As You Are is the only existing worker owned sex shop that I know of. A thoughtful collective of workers, owners and opinions. What that means is their product line (books, sex toys, lubes, safer sex supplies, more sex toys, harnesses, videos, packers, more sex toys…) is also very diverse because every worker has an opinion. Their buying taste is vast and we benefit for it!

Having taught at this shop for eight years and being friends with the worker-owners I can say they have their struggles, like any other business. But the shop, the toys, the books, the way they care for customers is second to none. The way they treat me as a workshop teacher and the warm audience members that fill our seats makes it easy for me to spout my love for them!

I’ll be back there in September, teaching my heart out. (Click here for details.) If you are in the Toronto area, you are invited to my events and to wallow in the wonderful that is Come As You Are.

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x shop shop is a warm little space in the heart of Baltimore’s Hampden neighborhood. The walls and tables are neatly packed from floor to ceiling with toys, safer sex supplies, locally made kink accoutrements, bath and massage oils, and erotic books. (The suede wrist cuff pictured below being an example of their local, handmade items.)

The success of this store rests with the owner, Jacq. Her in-store workshop program is consistently packed with workshops that deliver real, solid sex education- many that Jacq teaches herself. Personally I wish I lived closer so I could indulge in Sugar’s classes. On top of that, Jacq has an absolute commitment to delivering high quality, healthy toys to the people of Baltimore. Her ethics and her commitment to her community also shines in the many fund raising events she hosts and supports.

Sugar is a space that is full of acceptance of every body- with an emphasis on respect for both the customers who walk through the doors and the sweet souls this store employs. The workers at Sugar work to not just sell you sex toys, but do so with absolute awareness of your questions, needs and wants. A sex shop that cares. That’s how it should be.

While you are in Baltimore I also recommend that you checkout out the salads at Golden West Cafe. Yum! And one of my favorite books stores in the world – Atomic Books.

Sugar’s Army of Lube.

Every time I teach at Sugar I try to wear more and more outrageous heels to impress the staff. They started it!